Rep. Hodes of NH questions Social Security chief on mix-up involving US, foreign numbers

NH congressman questions Social Security on glitch

CONCORD, N.H. — Rep. Paul Hodes has asked the Social Security Administration to investigate and stop a processing glitch that linked U.S. numbers to those issued in three foreign countries and could be causing credit problems for his constituents.

The problem — which mostly affects numbers issued in Maine and New Hampshire — involves three Pacific island nations that receive disaster loans, grants and other aid from the United States in exchange for military privileges in the region.

The Associated Press reported in August that some U.S. agencies treat Social Security numbers issued by the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau as if they were U.S. numbers, regardless of whether they are already in use.

That can create headaches similar to identity theft when identities become linked in the eyes of lenders or creditors. In one case, when a Micronesian man defaulted on a $7,306 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, collection agencies turned to a New Hampshire woman with a matching Social Security number.

“The identities of my constituents must be protected and their Social Security numbers should not be duplicated. I am concerned that the Social Security Administration would allow this mix-up to occur,” Hodes, D-N.H., wrote to Social Security Administration Commissioner Paul Astrue this week.

A Social Security Administration spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday, saying Astrue would respond directly to Hodes. In August, the spokeswoman said officials weren’t aware of the problem and couldn’t do anything to correct it because it falls outside the agency’s chief focus: crediting wages earned by American workers to the right person.

More than 13,000 people in the three island nations have received about $55 million in grants and loans since 2000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture.

Calls to those agencies were not returned Thursday. The Department of Agriculture said in August it had known for years that numbers were getting mixed up but had yet to make software or policy changes. The Small Business Administration, which wasn’t aware of the problem, also said in the spring that it was researching how to ensure the problem didn’t happen again.

FEMA no longer offers direct financial aid in the region. USAID, the agency that took over disaster aid duties from FEMA last year, doesn’t collect Social Security numbers from grant applicants.